Sign painter&#39;s marker



- SIGN PAINTERS MARKER Filed Oct. 20, 1950 (Ittornegs' Patented Dec. 29,1931 PATENT OFFICE CLARENCE E. FRIDOLPH, F TOPEKA, KANSAS V SIGNPAINTERS MARKER Application filed October 20, 1930. Serial No. 489,909.

This invention relates to markers and more especially to devices to bepressed against fiat objects for producing thereon straight or curvedline marks. A. further object is to produce a marker of still resilientmaterial capable of being sprung sidewise from straight to curved form,and provided at one longitudinal edge with compressible material-such asfelt-adapted to be treated with chalk or equivalent material to leavethe impression of such chalked edge upon a flat wood, glass or otherobject, or upon a card or fabric, as a guide for a sign or card writer,when about to print or paint a word or the like upon the object.

A still further object is to provide a device possessing the property ofdefining either a straight line or curved line on arcs struck fromdifferent centers and of leaving impres- 'sions of such lines on flatobjects when pressed thereagainst, and also leaving linear measurementmarkings whereby the operator, knowing the width of the object and thepermissible length of the line to be made, can

instantly spring the marker enough to transfer to the object, an arcuateline of the degree of curvature required to fall within the extremitiesof the line.

With the above-mentioned objects in view,

the invention will be found to consist in its preferred, and perhapscheapest, form of the novel combination of a wood ruler equipped.

with a longitudinal edging of felt to be chalked so that when pressedfirmly against an object, such as a wood, glass or metal panel, or upona card or fabric, it will leave its impression as a direction guide forthe person who is to paint names or other matter upon the object; and inorder that it may be fully understood, reference is herewith made to theaccompanying drawings, in which: v

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a device embodying the invention, thefigure being broken for foreshortening purposes and. to more clearlydisclose the construction.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified construction.

Figure 3 is an end View of a modified construotion.

Figure 4 is an end view of a second modified construction. I v

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a door bearing arcuatechalked or equivalent lines, and also shows the device bowed upwardlyand applied operatively to the door for the production of upwardly bowedparallel guide lines, the lowerpair of lines being bowed downwardlyondifferent arcs indicat ing a reversed bowing ofthe device for theirproduction, and the intermediate straight lines indicating the use ofthe device in normal condition;

Figure 6 is a faceview on a reducedscale of a modified construction forthe marking of linear measurements.

Referring now to the detail construction, 1 indicates a fiatstraight-edged resilient device of rule form. It is preferably of wood,but may be of celluloid or other composition possessing resiliency-sothat it may be sprung to different arcs and if made of hard orrelatively hard material, it will have an edging of compressiblematerial of any character, such as felt, cord or the like. It can bemade of composition material of any character, as illustrated in Figure3, which is resilient, provided one edge is compressible.

In the preferred form, one longitudinal edge is providedwith a groove 2,and the com- 8 pressible strip 3 is cemented or otherwise suitablysecured therein. i

,In Figure 3, the device 1, has a softened edge 4, and in Figure-4, oneedge has secured thereon, a metal clip. 5, having a groove 6 wherein issuitably secured by crimping pressure or cement, the compressible edgingstrip 3. 7

When one desires to produce a straight line on a door or the like, thecompressible edge is rubbed with a piece of chalk or crayon ofsuitablecolor, and the edge thus treated is pressed firmly upon the door to markthe same. A second marking will, in cooperation with the first, definethe height of the letters to be painted or printed.

If it is desired to produce anupwardly bowed name, the edge is chalkedand then the device is sprung upwardto the desired degree, and while sobowed itispressed against the object, as illustrated in Figure 5. Byreversely bowing the device to bow it downwardly, corresponding linescan be quickly produced, and it will be apparent that the curved linesthus produced will always be symmetrical and the best degree ofcurvature instantly determined for attractiveness 1n appearance andaccommodation of available working space.

The device bears linear measurement markings as shown so as to beavailable for general measurement purposes and also, when the device isbowed, to instantly show the length of the bowed line and thus enablethe user to readily divide the length of the l ne, especially whencurved, into appropriate spaces for the number of letters to fall withinsuch length.

From the above description it will be apparent that the use of thedevice will materially shorten the time now ordinarily devoted tostriking curves with a chalk or crayon attached to a cord, as by bowingthe device and holding it near a door for instance, it can be determinedjust What curvature and its relative position on the door is best, thusavoiding the common practice of striking lines and erasing them ifapparently of Wrong curvature, or position, and repeating such treatmentone or more times, as commonly practiced.

In the construction shown in Figure 6, the compressible edging strip 11is formed with slight kerfs or notches 12 in its marking edge, spaced atuniform distances apart through the length of the strip. With thisconstruction, a line will be automatically divided into spaced units sothat the letter positions and the like may be readily determined withoutthe necessity of separate measuring operations.

The embodiment of the device may be obviously Varied from thosedisclosed without departlng from the principle of construction involvedor the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

1. A thin resilient strip inherently straight but susceptible of beingsprung sidewise to an arc of a circle, one longitudinal edge of thestrip being compressible edgewise when forcibly applied to a flat objectto leave an impression or mark upon the latter conforming to thecondition of the strip.

2. A thin resilient strip inherently straight but susceptible of beingsprung sidewise to define an arc of a circle and provided on its sidewith linear measurement graduation marks, one longitudinal edge of thestrip being compressible edgewise when forcibly applied to a flat objectto leave an impression or mark upon the latter conforming to thecondition of the strip.

3. A thin resilient strip of relatively hard Iresilient material,inherently straight but susceptible of being sprung sidewise to definean arc of a circle, one longitudinal edge of the strip being grooved,and compressible material secured within said groove and protrudingtherefrom.

4. A thin resilient strip of relatively hard resilient material,inherently straight but susceptible of being sprung sidewise to definean arc of a circle, a spring metal edge piece secured to the strip andprojecting beyond on longitudinal edge thereof, and compressiblematerial secured to said metal edge piece and projecting beyond themargin of said projecting portion of the edge piece.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

CLARENCE E. FRIDOLPH.

